Cosmetics & The Law

I am excited to announce that I have been appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on Good Manufacturing Practices (“GMP”) for Cosmetics for the Global Retailers and Manufacturers Alliance (“GRMA”).  The GRMA was created by the global public health organization NSF International, Inc. and leaders from major retailers and manufacturers to develop consensus-based standards for dietary supplements, cosmetics/personal care products, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and medical devices. Combining retailer and regulatory requirements into a single standard and auditing program for each product category will help reduce audits and costs while strengthening safety, quality and trust throughout the supply chain. The GRMA team, led by quality and safety experts from leading supermarkets, drugstore chains, mass merchandisers and club stores including: Ahold USA, Costco, Daymon Worldwide, Walgreens, Walmart and Wegmans, developed a blueprint to create standardized requirements for each product category. Additionally, utilizing insights from industry experts such as the Council for Responsible Nutrition, American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Nutrition Business Journal and NSF International led to the creation of formal ANSI standard notifications, the first step in the standards development process.

The purpose of the GRMA Cosmetics/Personal Care GMP Task Group is to evaluate what currently exists in terms of Cosmetics/Personal Care GMP Standards and Guidance and determine if there are additional requirements that are needed to create a comprehensive ANSI standard. To this end, the group will be evaluating ISO 22716 and the USDA GMP Cosmetic Guidance.

At this time, we are working on finding potential Joint Committee members from the Public Health/Government sector.  If you know individuals in the Public Health sector from either academia or government whether local (city, county, state) or federal please share with them.  The GRMA is open to all retailers, store brand manufacturers, relevant trade associations, and certification bodies.

I am honored to have the opportunity to work with NSF and the GRMA, and I look forward to working with the Task Group members.